The Fist and the Eye
by From Dust to Ashes
Summary: Akali has been trained since a child for the Kinkou, to one day inherit the role of her mother: the Fist of Shadow. And as a Kinkou, there is only one test to decide her merit: trial by combat.


A/N: Hey all! It's been a while since I updated anything. To be honest, there's been zero progress on anything... :( School is a pain. I'll try to pump out as many stories as I can but...not looking so hot.

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_Song pairing:_

_Too Close by Alex Clare_

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Shen breathed deeply. His gauntleted fists touched the ground gently as he leaned forward. Folding his knees beneath him, he let his shoulders, lightly burdened with his leather pads called _men-dare_, sink down. Reaching forward, he took up the ornate _men_, or helmet, that rested in front of him. Placing it upon his head, Shen closed his eyes. He kept them closed as he prepared himself for the match ahead of him, hearing his meditation mantra repeated itself through his head again and again: _My will is iron, my resolve as steel._

Clearing all thoughts from his mind, Shen focused on keeping as blank of a mind as possible save for his mantra. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps awakened him from his reverie after an unknown period of time. Instead of twitching, standing, or performing any reactionary action, as many would have done in his stead, the Eye of Twilight continued to stay on his knees.

"Greetings, Akali, child of the Fist of Shadow."

Shen noted the slight rasp of cloth twisting under leather as Akali shifted slightly. The sound which was as infinitesimally small as a rat's heartbeat under the ice during the winter season seemed to boom outwards to his ears, every miniscule detail failing to evade Shen's notice.

She bowed low from the waist. "Greetings, Eye of Twilight." As was customary, he greeted her first by name, as was befitting a master addressing his student.

Rising from his knees slowly, Shen turned to face his sparring partner. Akali was dressed in the typical Shadow clan fashion, a skin tight leather harness covering her torso, while her arms and legs were clad in a green-hued, ornately decorated guards. A long ponytail swished behind her back, a jade ring serving to contain the unruly hair. Her clothes were lackluster by most standards. Closer inspection, however, would serve to tell that the clothing was completely clean, with not a single speck of dust or dirt to mar the appearance.

An assassin's clothes should not draw attention to one's self, although that was not to say that they could not take care of their appearance.

But more interesting than her appearance, as far as Shen was concerned, was her weapon choice. In her hands, she held a pair of _kama_, sickle shaped weapons that had blades that fanned out in a V shape at the end, serving to better trap a sword blade or a bo staff. As if to compensate for her plain apparel, the _kama_ were intricately adorned with carved runes, the steel dully gleaming, and the leather wraps on the grips were light brown and fresh.

Akali was only fourteen but Shen knew better than to judge her by her relative youth. She was already harder than many a Demacian soldier, more brutal than a Noxian general, and more determined than any Rakkorian savage.

"Shall we spar, Master?"

Shen chuckled. It was typical for Kinkou to first exchange additional lines of greeting between a master and a student before additional action was taken, whether it be instruction, a walk through the _sakura_ garden, or sparring. The Fist of Shadow had never been too keen to follow all the intricacies of the Kinkou culture, and he guess through her gruff demeanor, it had rubbed off onto her daughter as well.

Deciding to humor Akali instead of rebuking her impatience (an assassin is never truly at rest; they are always moving, for what use is a lethargic killer?), Shen replied, "Very well," accompanied by a dip of his head.

The two Kinkou walked to the center of the room, a square marked with four chiseled glowstones serving as their sparring platform. Shen loosed one of his twin blades from its sheath over his shoulder. The pair stood across from each other, then bowed, hands mated. Standing upright again, Shen noticed Akali's stance: relaxed, legs untensed, giving no indication that she was about to strike. Her mother had trained her well.

Unlike most warriors of other nations, whose warriors preferred to do battle by banging swords, axes, polearms, and other various instruments of blunt force against one another, several Ionians, the Kinkou included, had mastered the art of shaping their _chakra_, or inner energy, into several jealously guarded techniques and masteries.

"Begin," said Shen.

As soon as he had uttered the word, the Fist sprang at him, in a _Shadow Dance_. Shen charged forward to meet her in his _Shadow Dash_. He collided with her in midair, and she slashed at him with one of her kama. The Eye of Twilight parried with one blade, using the other to stab at her left leg.

Using both arms, Akali pushed back against Shen, and the two went flying in opposite directions. Shen, in midair, flipped his body around so that when he landed, he could break his fall in a roll. Akali simply flew, sliding against the floor to halt her momentum with both feet.

The two stared at each other, each circling the other. Again, suddenly, Akali lunged at the Eye. Shen summoned several _Vorpal Blades_, and each razor sharp blade flew at the Fist who was still mid jump. Akali ignored them, simply curving her body so that the deadly projectiles danced about her. Shen braced himself for her impact with a _Feint_. A purple sheen bubbled outwards in front of him, just as Akali's foot connected with it.

Shen _Shadow Dashed_ at her as she kicked backwards off the shield, which "popped" right as she finished her flip. The Eye's speed surprised her, and he knocked her off her feet before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Akali attempted to down him by performing a _Crescent Slash_, spinning both her _kama_ around her body. Nothing.

Then, Shen leaped outwards at her, slashing downwards at her body!

Akali attempted to deter him by throwing one of her ethereal _Mark of the Assassins_ at him, a ghostly _kama_ composed of her _chakra_ identical to one of her own.

Shen simply knocked it aside with his sword, his blade erupting in a flurry of sparks as it connected with the _kama_. Akali scowled beneath her face mask and, gathering her inner _chakra_, she released it as a large cloud.

It was Shen's turn to be left, quite literally, in the dust as he glared into Akali's _Twilight Shroud_. The magical dust constantly moved in a smokescreen of sorts; up, down, around in circles, making it difficult to clearly discern movement behind the smoke.

Akali, hidden in her cloud, watched as Shen crouched, placing his left thigh parallel to the ground. With his right leg, he placed his foot behind his torso, and extended his arms outward. Twirling slowly, Shen slowly began to throw the dust outwards from the center of the smoke where he stood. The Fist recognized his stance as the_Fú Hǔ Bù_, a stance that was able to be quickly manipulated from a defensive position into an attacking stance.

She readied herself, watching as the smoke from her _Twilight Shroud_ slowly dissipated as Shen removed it, pouring his own _chakra_ into the haze that surrounded to push it away from him. As soon as he succeeded in clearing a small gap in the smoke, Akali pushed off from the ground, her legs pumping in one fluid motion. In mid-air, she tucked in her _kamas_ close to her body, increasing her speed. Flying at Shen, her body rapidly hurtled towards his exposed back.

Akali prepared to snap her foot forward in a devastating kick, but as she did so…

...Shen spun around and caught her leg!

Surprised by the sudden halt in momentum, Akali rammed forward into Shen, her stomach going over his shoulder. She gasped as, with both hands still around her ankle, the Eye drove his shoulder upwards into her torso. Continuing the motion, he flipped her over his back. Not a single grunt came from his mouth as he threw the seventy kilo girl.

As Akali flew, however, she lithely gripped Shen's chest with both her feet. Allowing herself to fall backwards, her momentum carried Shen down with her. Rolling to break her descent, she came up with both her _kama_ ready to slash downwards. But as the Eye fell, he twisted backwards to gaze at her, before throwing a fistful of daggers at her.

Switching her gaze from him to his _Vorpal Blades_, she crossed her _kama_ over her torso. Two blades hit the steel of her weapons and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The rest either whistled around or above her. One, however, managed to slip past her concentration and grazed her shoulder, hitting just above where her shoulder pads ended. Throwing a look at her shoulder, Akali noticed a bright red line across her shoulder.

Looking back at Shen, she saw him for a split second. He hovered above the ground, floating a good three feet into the air. All around him, the ground was marked in concentric purple rings, additional glowing rings following him upwards, completely encasing him. His left hand was wrapped around his waist, while his right hand was curled in a curious gesture; his ring and pinkie finger were folded downwards in a circle, locked there with his thumb, while his middle and index fingers were upright. In a split second, Akali dimly recognized it as a hand sign for the Ram.

Before she could ponder the meaning, Shen disappeared. All around her, the markers around her began to glow with the same purple light as the circles that had surrounded Shen, rattling violently. Gazing around quickly, Akali noticed that the rods all began to expand outward in a bubble. Slowly, a nimbus of light grew larger and larger around each rod. Akali rotated around, spinning around her left foot, pirouetting constantly.

She narrowed her gaze. One of the poles was rattling more than the others, and the excessive noise drove her on edge. Pondering the light, Akali threw a _Mark of the Assassin_ at one of the poles inquisitively. The light, now blinding in intensity, simply absorbed the ghostly blade without effect. Before Akali could ponder the meaning, the light grew brighter and brighter suddenly, like a flaring bonfire, until even just keeping her eyes became painful.

Daring to open her right eye to a narrow slit, the squint seared the image of the narrow pole, silhouetted by the dazzling light. She shut her eye once more, before the the light dimmed. Akali opened her eyes, just in time to see…

Nothing.

The purple lights disappeared, plunging the entire arena into darkness. Akali stood stock still. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears. The Fist closed her eyes, forcing her body to calm down. Slowly, the vibrations of her chest grew to a small pitter-patter, as her ears searched for the slightest hint of sound.

Akali forced all of her other senses away, ignoring all of them but her sense of hearing. Shen must eventually make a noise, the smallest sound. And once he did, she would…

That thought was ended quickly as the cold chill of metal was touched against her neck.

"How…?"

"A ninja must tread carefully, that each of his footsteps makes not a sound."

Turning around, Akali faced Shen's face, his stoic expression hidden behind his blue face mask. Akali nodded once towards him, then sheathed both of her _kama_ on her back. Although she seethed with frustration, adrenaline, and indignation, and rightly so, for many did not know of the Kinkou's each and every battle tactics; even less so for Shen's _Stand United_, her impassive face revealed none of those emotions.

Shen nodded in return, glancing over her. He noticed how her upper lip twitched, how her right eyelid blinked, how she stood more rigidly than before.

He chuckled slightly.

"You have passed. Welcome to the Order of the Kinkou, Akali, bearer of the title of the Fist of Shadow."

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A/N: Fun fact, I wrote this right after I bought Akali. She's so strong...BUT THEN WHEN THE ENEMY TEAM BUILDS WARMOGS KFJAKL:ADJF:LADK JDALFKJ D OMFG...

I wrote this story while watching Too Close's music video. The two swordsmen really reminded me of Shen. :D


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